Substantially any electrical appliance may at one time or another be subjected to operating extremes which may cause the operating temperatures of the appliance to rise to a sufficiently high temperature so as to potentially cause damage to the mechanical workings of the device or even its housing or enclosure. The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for (1) sensing when the operating temperature of an electrical appliance rises above a predetermined high temperature condition and (2) adjusting the current flow to at least a portion of the device in response to sensing such a condition.